Show Me Your Food Porn: Matthew Hranek

When you ask a food photographer for a favorite from their portfolio, you get a perfectly lit, beautiful styled photograph with just the right amount of good ole Photoshop. Then, there’s Matthew Hranek. Dig through his top ten photographs and you’ll come face to face with homemade pig face bacon (yes, you read that correctly) and a dinner table battleground, post-Adam Perry Lang feasting. It’s how do you say – surprising, but nonetheless thrillingly raw, honest and beautiful in its own sense of the word. Or as the New York based photographer likes to describe it, “very natural, graphic, and usually involving lots of meat.”

Hranek got his start in fashion photography, which explains the visceral, other-worldly aura to his work, and later delved into travel and food photography. He’s shot for Bon Appétit. Martha Stewart Living, and GQ to name a few. However, Hranek’s not your usual mystery man behind the camera; soon you’ll see him on the Esquire Network as the host of “Alternate Route,” his very own show dedicated to travel and food bookended with tidbits on gear, style and adventure.

So before Hranek becomes a household name, read on about his favorite food images and the stories behind them.

1. Russ & Daughters Spread (Manhattan, NY)

Bagels, smoked fish and a plate loaded with capers, lemons and dill—this photo reminds me of a Baroque still-life. It’s opulent, excessive and a bit over the top, and that’s why I love it. I produced, photographed, and wrote this story about Russ & Daughters on New York City’s Lower East Side for Martha Stewart Living magazine. I’m the biggest fan of the shop, so it was a dream to work with these Jewish soul food masters. And of course, after I shot it at Mark Federman’s home, then I took all of this food home and ate it.

2. Bread with Roasted Garlic and Ricotta (Carneros, CA)

This photo for Martha Stewart Living magazine has many elements that feel autumnal and uniquely Californian. The grapes were ripe with fruit, ready to harvest. The air had a chill. The light was warm and low. I love that light, the texture of the roasted garlic and oil—you can almost smell the bread and taste the sweetness of the ricotta. Here, I’ve presented and styled the food in a straight forward way, just the way I like to eat them.

3. Lunch at McSorley’s Old Ale House (Manhattan, NY)

Here’s my typical lunch at McSorley’s in the East Village. I shot this for my blog, The William Brown Project. Like Russ & Daughters, McSorley’s is a great New York City institution that I have spent many hours in. It’s unchanged, simple, and good. Most people just go in and drink, but their lunches are terrific. I love their homemade soup, steak and fries, and sandwiches, my favorite being the liverwurst with onion on rye pictured here. It’s an honest, authentic moment, thankfully perfectly styled.

4. Pickling Ramps (Mileses, NY)

Nothing is more delicious (or more perfect for a gin Gibson) than a ramp pickle. I pickle a bit, and I picked all these bulbs from my farm in upstate New York. This picture was taken just at the moment when the ramp bulbs were tossed into a hot brine of malt vinegar, allspice, brown sugar, pepper, and bay leaf. It’s my favorite part of the process, right when the alchemy of pickling comes together. Eventually these photos led to a Martha Stewart Living story about ramps shot on my farm.

5. Hanging Liverwurst (Mileses, NY)

Photographers adore natural light, but I love the light in this walk-in fridge. It’s clinical, even, and bright like an operating room, and it’s super flattering for charcuterie. My neighbors built me this amazing fridge at my farm upstate, where I store homemade liverwurst made from pigs I raise.

6. Pig Face Bacon (Mileses, NY)

In my house, we live for bacon. The beauty of raising your own pigs is that there is a lot around. Here’s my first try at making pig face bacon, which I chronicled on my blog. I carved the faces off the skull, leaving all the good stuff (jowl and cheeks), then brined and smoked them with traditional bellies. Though it made for an imposing, in-your-face image, the results were amazing.

7. Trout Caviar (Mileses, NY)

Simple and elegant, I just love this image of trout caviar. This pile (250 grams worth) came from the Russ & Daughters shoot I produced for Martha Stewart Living. The colors are just amazing, with the bright orange globules of caviar playing off the blue tin. And, I’ll tell you I ate the whole damn tin myself. Jut one incredible privilege when working with great food.

8. Oyster Shell (Normandy, France)

Sometimes, the end-of-meal carnage tells a better story than a full, untouched plate. Here, I was on assignment in Normandy, France, for the now unfortunately defunct Cookie magazine. Food and drink were big players in telling the story. There was great seafood, cheeses, calvados, and cider, but to me this is the image that sums up the trip. Taken on a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon in Honfleur, it the spirit of the day in a sort of Baroque still-life kind of way.

9. Food Mess (Ashton, Idaho)

This is the story no one shows in the editorial world, and I wish someone had the balls to do so. After all the overly styled, overly handled, primped food is finished being shot, we are left to tear it apart. This overhead shot is from the end of a very long day shooting a story about Adam Perry Lang for Bon Appétit. He grilled, then we shot on the fly, and it was all delicious and definitely not going to waste. Everyone dug in, including myself; I licked steak fat off my fingers and chased it all down with bourbon and beer. This is the real story, and I love the way it all looks.

10. Trout (Ashton, Idaho)

Shot right next to the spot that became the mess, this bacon-wrapped trout was beautifully styled by Simon Andrews for the same Bon Appétit story. Fish are most often the most beautiful subjects to shoot. They require little fussing and style–nature has made the perfect package.

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